


Partners in Crime... Fighting

by Hunter_inthe_tardis



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Reader-Insert, Romance, Some Humor, Strong Female Characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2018-05-17 14:08:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5873395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hunter_inthe_tardis/pseuds/Hunter_inthe_tardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You are attacked by another bar patron on your way home. After fending the person off, you find yourself entangled with the bartender who came to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Words: 2496
> 
> Warnings: Likely attempted sexual assault and referenced other assaults. Please avoid this if you think it will be triggering for you. I've had issues in the past shaking men from trying to make moves that weren't welcome, and I guess this is a way for me to process those experiences. BTW choosing a random apartment building, telling your would-be suitor that you share an apartment with your very strict insomniac Jewish grandmother and then walking up to a stranger's apartment and pretending to fumble with your keys is a surprisingly effective way of getting them to go away.
> 
> A/N: This was supposed to be a Benny addition to Around the World in Smutty Days, but it took on a life of its own. And now there's no smut. Sorry. I couldn't really justify the reader being nearly assaulted and then having her jump into bed with the next handsome person who happened along. 
> 
> P.S There is also a treat of an alternate ending.

You felt someone following behind you before you hear their soft footfalls; the hairs at the back of your neck stood to attention. Quickly, you stepped to the side of the side walk and spun around, mace at the ready.

The man from the bar smiled quickly at you, “Looks like we’re headed in the same direction.” He’s smiling and his voice sounds friendly, but there’s something dark in his eyes you don’t trust.

“Aw, c'mon. Don’t be that way. Look my car is just right over there. I was heading to it.” He beeps the car lock to prove himself. “It’s just a coincidence.”

 _Not much of a coincidence,_ you think, as the other side of the bar lead to the outskirts of town, where not a lot of people would be heading out to anyway.  
You really didn’t like this guy in the bar either; not the way he sat right next to you when there were many other seats to choose at the bar, not the way he butted into your conversation with the handsome bartender with the southern drawl, and certainly not the way he had pulled your elbow to get your attention when you tried to let your body language do the talking, clearly shifting away from him and not responding to his comments.

When the guy clearly wasn’t getting the hint you decided to pull the, “I have to go meet up with my family now.” Proving that you had somewhere to be and weren’t going to be alone, and bid adieu to the bartender, who was quickly becoming a friend and confidant, though you hadn’t caught his name yet. You were beginning to become one of the regulars and looked forward to seeing him when you came in for a beer after work.  
***  
Suddenly, the guy took a step closer. “How ‘bout I give you a ride? You headed home?”

“No, thanks. I’m ok.” Now that he was standing this close to you, you realized how much smaller you were, and gripped your mace more tightly.

His face became more snake-like at your response, eyes narrowing and smile dropping.

“I’m so sick of this shit from chicks like you. I’m trying to be a nice guy.” His hand quickly grasped the elbow attached to your hand with the mace. “Doesn’t that get me anything?”

“Let go of me.” You try to keep your voice calm, though your heart is hammering inside your chest.

“If you agree to take a ride with me.” He steps even closer, causing you to take a step back, bumping into the building behind you. Shit.

“I believe the lady made a request of you.” You hear a familiar deep southern drawl.

The guy whips his head around to see who you already know is standing close behind him.

Crinkling blue eyes meet yours over the guy’s shoulder. “How you doin’, y/n?”

The grip on your arm tightens painfully. “She’s fine, we’re just ta-”

You cut him off, using your non-dominant hand to punch him, as hard as you can in the throat. As he bends over, you knee him in the balls, causing him to finally release his grip on your arm. The thought crosses your mind to leave it at that, but you can’t. Clearly this guy is a monster and you’re not his first target, so you spray the side of his face while he’s still hunched over.

You’re standing over him, panting, realizing you have no idea what to do next, when the bartender’s large fist comes down quick and squarely on the back of the man’s head, silencing the guy’s gasping and moaning.

You can finally see the bartender clearly over the knocked out body of the would be rapist.

“Nicely done.” The bartender looks at you, and you see something wild in his eyes beginning to settle, though he seems to be struggling to get it under control.

“Thank you for distracting him.” You say.  
“I was meanin’ to do a lot more than that, but you seem to be able to take care of yourself.”

You look down at the would-be rapist, out cold on the cement.

“Well now I don’t know what to do with him.”

“You don’ wanna call the police?” The bartender asked.

“I want him to have consequences, I just know how the legal system handles these cases and I don’t want to put myself through that. He didn’t get very far so he’d probably get off pretty easy.”

“Not if he hasn’t done something like this before, maybe you’d be helping more people solve their cases.” He sounds like he’s trying to say the rational, legally right thing, even if he doesn’t believe it.

“Or bring it all back up for them, and make them relive it.”

 _What are you even talking about anymore; you’re going to turn him into the cops… or what?_ Looking up at the bartender, he’s standing easy, arms hanging loosely at his sides. You notice that he hasn’t crossed his arms or stuck his hands in his pockets, the way someone would as they stand to talk. He looks relaxed but he’s really standing at the ready, his legs hip width apart, knees slightly bent. He’s ready to spring.

“What do you want to do Cher?”

You’re standing at a crossroads. You don’t know exactly what he’s asking you, but you have a pretty good idea, and he’s ready to move at your answer.

“I’m not going to report him, but I don’t want to cause you any trouble either.”

“Ain’t no trouble for me. Don’t cho worry. I’m just going to introduce him to some friends of mine.” He bends down and picks up the man with amazing ease.

“You go on home now and I’ll meet you back at the bar tomorrow.”  
“Ok… But… I don’t even know your name?”

“You can call me Benny, Cher.”

***

After getting home in that evening you really start to panic. _What just happened? Did you really just let someone you barely know likely murder a total stranger? A total stranger who had every intention of hurting you, but still a total stranger._

You were in way over your head. In a way this was scarier than just leaving the guy on the pavement. H _ow are you going to deal with the police when they come looking for him? What if the whole thing had been caught on a security camera? You should have called the police._

Your thoughts took off, wildly spinning out of your control. Feeling the beginning of a panic attack coming on, you took a few deep breaths. _You could still go back, try to find the bartender, and convince him you should just leave the guy on the steps of the courthouse all trussed up. Batman style. No one dies that way. No one goes to jail… Except maybe the person who deserves it._

Grabbing your keys you head back to your car and to the bar.

  
***

  
There are no other cars parked around the building when you get back. Since you started frequenting this place, after your ex took all your hangouts and friends in the break-up, you’d never noticed if there was a regular car that was likely Benny the bartender’s.

Getting out of your car you decided to try the front door first, in case it had been left open. As you pulled the cold brass handle the door caught on the dead bolt slid into place in the lock. No luck there. You walked around back figuring that you could at least be thorough, even if Benny wasn’t here maybe there was something you could use to figure out where he’d gone. You couldn’t go back home to panic all night.

Turning the knob in the door, you gently pushed it in, and it slid over the tiled back room floor. It was dark inside, but you quietly stepped in and held onto the door as it swung shut to lessen the sound of it.

Inside, you stopped to let your eyes adjust to the darkness again, and pricked up your ears to see if you could hear anything in the dark bar kitchen. Your heart was certainly pounding loud enough you thought anyone else present would surely hear it. Taking a deep breath you began making your way through the kitchen and into the hallway between the bar and the back area of the building. As you passed by the office you peaked in. It was dark and apparently empty. The next door appeared to be a store room, cases of beer, liquor and mixers lined the shelves along the walls, though in the back center of the room was a doorway in the floor down to the basement and light filtered up out of the entry. _Of course there was a basement. That’s where they probably kept the kegs._

You stepped softly over to the opening where the stairs began, voices drifted up from the basement, you could make out Benny’s distinctive drawl and another panicky male voice. Squatting, you placed your palms down, fingers grasping the edge of the opening and listened.

“How many women have you raped?”

“I- I didn’t rape any of them, they all lead me on to begin with. It seemed like they would be into it. It’s not my fault they changed their minds later. I swear I didn’t just pick up random girls on the street.”

“You’re sick. As I witnessed this evening with my friend, it would appear some of them might not have been very interested in you from the beginning.”  
“She didn’t tell me no.” There was a grinning lilt to the guy’s voice. He was mocking the bartender. “Are you jealous she didn’t go home with you?”

You heard a wet crack and assumed it was probably Benny’s fist colliding with the guy’s face. You heard the guy moan and spit.

“I think it’s time I show you how serious I am.” Benny’s accent dripped with menace.

If you were going to stop Benny from murdering someone, now was the time. You couldn’t make yourself move down the stairs though. You felt frozen. _He’s hurt other women_ , you thought, _he doesn’t even think he’s doing anything wrong. What kind of hope was there for a person like that?_  
Before you could think to move again, you heard the guy scream.

“What the fuck!?”

“This is disturbing, no? Would you like to see some of my other abilities?” Benny’s voice was somewhat muffled, as if he had too much food in his mouth and was trying to speak. What the hell was going on down there?

Again the guy screamed.

“Not to worry. I gave up feeding on humans a long time ago. However, I have no problem killing someone who hurts others for fun. Consider this your first and last warning; If I ever find out that you have attempted to take another person against their will, I will kill you. Don’t think you can hide from me. You’ve only seen a portion of what I am capable of.”

“I’ll tell the police.”

“You will not. How would you explain why I threatened you without casting suspicion upon yourself? And who would believe you when you try to tell them what you’ve witnessed here?”

There was silence for a moment before Benny spoke again.

“You’re going to wake up in your car in the morning, but remember me and know that I will find out every thing about you. If I find out you have hurt another person, I will destroy everything you care about and finally come for you. Do you understand?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Good.” There was another thud; what you assumed was Benny knocking the guy out again.

_Ok. So he didn’t kill anyone, but what the fuck did he do to scare him so bad? What would happen to you if he found out you had been eves dropping? That you hadn’t trusted him? Shit._

You backed away from the opening. Quickly you tried to bend yourself out of the squatted position but your legs had gone somewhat numb while you were listening and you fell backwards on your bum. Luckily, there was enough padding there to make sure it didn’t make too much of a sound. You scrambled away from the hatch between two metal shelving units. You heard the sounds of Benny picking up his hostage and the creak of the stairs as he began walking up them.

Just before the top of his head breached the hatch, you held your breath, hoping beyond hope he didn’t look over in your direction.

Benny had the guy hoisted over his shoulder and appeared to be easily taking the steps up to the ground floor. He turned away from you as he stepped on to the concrete. He paused for a moment before walking to the door and down the hallway. As soon as you heard the back door bang shut, you leapt up and ran out of the store room.

You go to head towards the back door but pause. You don’t know where Benny is taking the guy exactly or when he’ll be back. If you go out the back door, you risk running into the two of them, and your car is still parked outside near the bar. Fucking shit.

Just as you decide your best course is to try to get to your car and hope Benny took the guy up the alley on the other side of the building, the backdoor opens up. _How the hell did he get back to quickly?!_

You are frozen in place again as Benny’s form fills the doorway.

“Y/N. I know you are there, Cher. I heard you when you first came in.”

You were caught. You took a deep breath and looked into the tall shadow.

“Hi” _Hi?! Fucking 'Hi’, that’s what your going with right now? Ok fine._

“I was nev'r going to kill him”

You took a shaky breath. “I wasn’t scared for him. I was worried you would get in trouble if he went missing, or someone found his body.”

He was silent in the hall.

“I didn’t want anything bad to happen because of me.”

Quickly but silently the shadows of Benny came down the hallway. Strong arms wrapped around you and you felt the edge of his beard fold against your temple and the side of your forehead.

“I woulda been gettin’ in trouble 'cuz of him, Cher, not because of you. None of this was your fault.”

You let yourself melt into the hug, and realize that for now, things were ok.

***

Alternate Ending: (Written by my boyfriend, because I let him read the rough draft earlier)  
Suddenly, you realize that you shit your pants. “I knew I shouldn’t have stopped for Taco Bell on my way home. How am I going to clean this up?” The stench is overwhelming and your pants are dripping with taco shit. Just then Benny walks in…


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Benny decide how to handle what you evesdropped on in the bar.

            You sat back at the bar, on your regular stool, shooting an email to your boss that you wouldn't be making it in the next day. It was already past four in the morning on a Wednesday. Benny grabbed two beers from the cooler behind the bar and walked around to sit down next to you.

            "So ya thought I was the murder'n type, huh?" He popped the top off both the bottles.

            "Well, I just didn't know what you were planning on doing." There was so much more than that but your mind and body were exhausted. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you wanted to freak out about Benny's earlier comment to the guy about "not eating people anymore," but, at this point, things weren't computing correctly. You had run the emotional rainbow today, and it seemed as though you had hit a wall; as if some security override had kicked in and caused you to file that under "things to freak out about tomorrow."

            "So what did you do to scare the guy so bad?"

            "I intimidat'd him."

            "Really? That's it. No explanation of how?"

            "Not tonight."

            You rolled your eyes and took a swig of your beer.

            "You ain't afraid of me?"

            "You haven't 'intimidated' me. I want some answers, soon. It seems like you're surprised that I would think that you were someone who would commit murder, and at the same time, what were you planning on telling me you did with the guy?"

            "That you didn't have ta worry about it, I took care of 'em ."

            "And I wasn't supposed to assume that meant that you killed him and dumped him off somewhere?"

            "I hoped you wouldn't think of it at all."

            "I don't understand."

            "You don't have to."

            That was the final straw. You liked the guy and you were thankful that he helped you, but you weren't going to let anyone talk down to or manipulate you anymore. Your ex had been that way; always telling you how to feel and what to think, and calling you outrageous and overly sensitive when you brought up actual things that bothered you or that were concerning about his behavior. And the lying. So much lying. Lying about even little things, like if he took the dog for a walk that day (or stayed in playing video games while you worked). Lying to cover up other lies, until you were constantly entangled in trying to catch him with hard evidence of the truth before he could misconstrue or hide that too.

            "Fine, Benny. Whatever."

            You left your beer half finished and grabbed your jacket. You didn't owe this guy anything, really. You could find another bar, another handsome bartender. You didn't have to have any investment in him, and there were plenty of signs that you shouldn't.

            "Wait! Y/N! I can explain. It's just..."

            "No. You don't have to explain, you don't have to sit there and come up with reasons why I won't understand, you don't have to cover anything up. I am not interested in anything but your honesty and it's clear you are not going to give that willingly."

            You watched as a look of frustration and anger took over his normally serene face. He clenched his jaw and stared over the back of the bar. Suddenly, you realized you may not want to piss off the large man who just 'intimidated' your assailant. Your earlier anger still simmered, though, and you were resentful that he was larger than you, and that you still, as a small female, had to control your reactions so as not to infuriate him and put yourself at risk.

 

            Your thoughts had gotten away from the situation; refocusing on the man in front of you, you watched as he re-arranged his expression. He took control of his emotions again. When he turned back to you his face was sad more than anything else. Light blue eyes bore into yours, pleadingly.

            "Y/N. Honesty hasn't been something I've had the luxury of give'n out for a long time. I try to be a better person now, but it comes at a price."

            You didn't know whether to stay or keep going. You'd felt drawn to the bartender for sometime, but it seemed like you were standing at the edge of something big, and that once you committed to whatever it was, there wouldn't be any going back.

            Benny got up from his barstool and walked over to you cautiously. You looked up at his sad, warm blue eyes. When he got to you, he slowly placed both hands on either side of your face.

            "There's so much that I could tell you to explain, but I'm not inclined to draw you into my mess, and my mess is pretty hard to ignore once you know about it." Benny placed his lips between your eyebrows briefly, "I'm also not the boss of you, and I understand that what happened with that man was your business and you have a right to know. Just, please, take sometime to think about it first."

           

 

            Back at your small apartment, you looked at your meager belongings. When you left your ex, you had decided it wasn't worth it to try to convince your friends he wasn't the great guy he pretended to be, and you didn't want any big dramatic break-up, or the opportunity to be convinced you should stay and try to work things out. So you cut ties, left everything but your personal belongings, clothes and a few keepsakes mostly. Everything fit in your car, so when you found the new apartment, you didn't have much to fill it with. It seemed like a reflection of your life currently. Sort of empty and lacking meaning.

            Benny couldn't know that you didn't currently have much of life to complicate, that you didn't really think anything he could tell you would effect you. You figured he had some kind of a criminal past, or had been a torturer for the military, something that made sense of how he had influenced the guy in the basement. Maybe he was in witness protection and that's why he didn't want to tell you. He looked big and strong enough to be an enforcer. Whatever it was, it had to be more exciting than your boring life, and you were sick of mediocrity.

            You had already made your decision. You wanted information, but you were willing to wait, if it made him feel better that you had gone home and thought it over.

            After showering and changing into yoga pants, you flopped onto the futon to get a few hours of rest before calling the number Benny had programmed into your phone.

 

            Benny picked up on the second ring. "Y/N."

            "I've made my decision."

            Benny told you that he had decided to keep the bar closed for the night and invited you to meet him there, but you asked him to come to your apartment. You figured that if you were going to ask him to tell you the truth, you owed it to him to show him your own. Even if your truth was pathetic and empty.

            You picked up the little space a bit. Most of your clothes were folded in milk crates, or hung in the closet. You folded the futon back up to a couch, and placed the blankets back over the back of it.

            A soft knock on the door made you jump.

            You opened the door a crack and the bearded face of the bartender peered from you from beneath the brim of his newsboy cap.

            Un-doing the chain you opened the door for the man to come through.

            "Come on in."

            Surprisingly, Benny chuckled as he walked through the door.

            "What's so funny?"

            "It'll make sense later."

            "So, well, this is my life." You spread your arms wide in the small space, "It's pretty much not anything worth worrying about screwing up. I guess you can't really get a good look at my crappy job from here, but I guarantee you, it sucks more than this apartment."

            Benny took his eyes off you and looked around the room. He sauntered over to the couch and plopped down on it.

            "This is where you expect me to fess up, huh? Tell you all about my past, how I'm on the run from the law or in a protection program? It ain't that."

            You figured he was going to take his time telling you what ever it was he had done to the guy and how he'd done it.

            "Ok. While you're warming up, I'm going to have a beer, want one?" You opened the half sized fridge and grabbed a Dead Guy Ale.

            "Nah. I brought my own."

            "Benny, you didn't bring-"

            "I'll show you." Out of his pocket he pulled a bag of blood.

            "What. The. Fuck." The beer slipped out of your hand and bounced off the linoleum, spraying every where.

            "Benny, where did you get that? You are seriously not going to tell me you drink that?!"

            Benny was up off the couch, grabbed a towel, mopped up the beer and salvaged what was left of the drink before you could blink.

            "That's expensive beer, Cher." He placed the bottle back in your hand.

            "How the fuck did you do that?"

            "I'm a vampire, Y/N."

            "What?"

            "I'm a vampire."

            "Ok. Yeah. Sure." You had no idea what to think. He could be just a total weirdo that stole blood from blood banks and drank it, pretending to be a vampire (You'd read about that on the Internet. They also ate raw steak). But he did move so fast, you could hardly see him when he cleaned up the mess; he was just a blur. There was no way that was normal. This had not been what you expected.

            "You need to sit down." He helped you over to the couch.

            "Seriously. You think you're a vampire?" Your heart was racing. You didn't know whether to call the mental hospital, or the police.

            "Darlin', I know I'm a vampire. I'm going to show you something else. I promise, I won't hurt you."

            Before you could voice your uncertainty and panic, a mouth full of fangs unsheathed themselves. You covered your own mouth before you could scream and draw the neighbors attention.

            "I promised, I wouldn't hurt you." Benny's usual smooth southern accent was marred by the lisp created by all the fangs. He placed a hand on your arm. "I promise. I stopped killing people a long time ago."

            He closed his mouth and shook his head a bit. When he made eye contact with you again his mouth was back to normal.

            "It's hard to talk with those out, and they're distracting when I'm trying to convince a pretty girl to trust me."

            You finally gained some control over your vocal cords, "Ok. So, vampires are real."

            "Yes, indeed."

            That was going to take a little more getting used to, but you could run with it for now. You were an expert at compartmentalizing things, and mulling them over later.

            "You laughed when I invited you in."

            "It was ironic. That's an old wive's tale. Makes people feel safe if they think we can't get in without an invite. I can come and go where-ever I want." He was right that didn't make you feel very safe.

            "Do you know other vampires? How many are there?"

            "Yes. Too many. And before you ask: No, I'm not making you into one."

            "Do you hang out with them? Like a coven or something?"

            "No. I try to stay away from them, and it's called a nest when a group lives together."

            "Why are you being so honest?"

            "I've found that being up front with someone who you're fond of is, in general, a better way to get to spend more time with them. Wouldn't it be a lot worse if I lied to you, gained your trust, and then you found out about me? Wouldn't that destroy a relationship?"

            In the middle of your heart already racing at all the new information, it skipped a beat or two as it dawned on you that Benny was attracted to you too. Still this was all so weird.

            "So this was your plan all along?"

            "Well, it picked up the pace after last night. I hoped to get your number in a more romantic way."

            "Your plan was to get my number, take me out to dinner, and sip on blood soup while I got the shrimp fettuccini?"

            "Of course not like that, but something close to it. You are sarcastic."

            "You're observant."

            Benny smiled at you. "You're also cute."

            "Don't distract me. You drink blood, but not from people? Is that common."

            "Unfortunately, I'm a minority in the vampire population. Most of them do drink human blood straight from the source." As he talked about drinking human blood you watched his pupils dilate slightly. It might be a good idea to get him off the blood drinking topic.

            "You're a lone wolf then? Wanna glass for your bag o'blood?" Maybe redirecting him to his blood a la cart would get him off drinking out of a human.

            "That would be nice, thanks. Yeah I run alone. It's better that way. When vampires get together they can get to be more... Cruel towards humans."

            You got up to get Benny a glass for his blood.

            "Ok, so did you give the guy a flash of your fangs last night?" You handed him the glass as you sat back down.

            "I did. As well as something else." Benny lifted the bag of blood. "I may have, had him donate to my cause."

            "I'm sorry but that is gross."

            "It's how I live."

            "I get that. That's gross in a different way, but you're going to drink the blood of some low life would-be rapist creep? That just doesn't seem right."

            Benny actually laughed. Not his light chuckle you usually got, but a real belly jiggling laugh.

            "Oh Cher. You're worried about the moral content of my meal? That might be the most endearing thing I've ever heard. I'm a vampire, just imagine the sorts of people I've eaten before!"

            "Um... "

            "Before I quitting taking people down, I started to pick off the worst people I could find. It seemed better at first."

            "Why did you quit eating people?"

            "I grew tired of that life. And I fell in love with a human woman."

            Your heart sank a little bit; he'd already had a special bond with someone else. So had you, but it was a little disappointing to not be the first human he'd loved. He noticed your face drop.

            "I've loved two people before. One when I was human, and one when I was a vampire. I've lived a very long life. I've learned that depending on who or what you are at any given point you can have a different true love. Have you loved someone before?"

            "I thought I did, but it turned out they weren't really who they pretended to be."

            "That's a good argument for honesty. I'm sure you did love them, they just misused your trust."

            This conversation had taken a decidedly different turn, but nothing in the last 24 hours had gone as expected.

            "I'm sorry to break this topic, but I do need to feed. I can do it out of sight if it bothers you."

            You really didn't know if it did or didn't bother you at this point, but you weren't sure you were ready for him to casually sip on blood while you guys had deep conversations about relationships.

            "You do what you need to do. I'm going to make myself something to eat while you drink that I guess." At least then you could distract yourself from what he was doing.

            You headed back to the kitchenette and pulled out a box of macaroni and cheese. It wasn't the healthiest thing, but it was comfort food, and it seemed right for the moment. You pulled out the pot and started gathering the other things you needed. After you got the water on the stove, Benny walked over to you. He looked... Really good. Feeding had given his eyes more twinkle and had added some pink to his cheeks where they emerged from the scruff on his face.

            "Beat ya. I can be a pretty quick eater."

            "I bet, you don't have as much prep or as many choices."

            "Let me make you dinner. I don't eat but I'm a pretty good cook. That's what an enhanced sense of smell will get you."

            He picked up the box of noodles and made a face, "How often do you eat boxed macaroni and cheese?"

            "Uh, probably more than any adult has a right to."

            "What else do you have in your kitchen?"

            "Well I like cheese. So I have a few kinds to eat with crackers and fruit in there. I have some crackers, and some apples, and I've got various spices in the cupboard over the stove. I probably some top ramen if you're feeling fancy. I don't really cook very often anymore, so I just buy what ever ingredients I need if I'm planning something. Or I snack on whatever's here."

            "There's something I can work with in here I bet. Or you'll have to settle for my leftovers." He grinned at you.

            "I guess you can be sarcastic too."

            You watched as the southern man took over your kitchen. _I have a vampire, in my kitchen, making me dinner. This is totally off the charts weird._ He quickly oriented himself to the lay out, and other than when he had to wait for the ingredients to cook properly, he was a blur of movement, chopping garlic, and shredding cheese like speed racer. He was overly excited when he found a block of smoked Gouda to work with.

            "You were going to eat that fake orange crap when you had this?!"

            "I grew up on that fake orange crap, and it's easy."

            "Darlin', once you know what your doing this is easy too, and so much better."

            You almost sassily replied "How would you know" but you bit your tongue. It was probably better not to poke the proverbial bear. Especially if that bear was making you dinner, and could make you into dinner if he wanted.

            "Interestin'ly, people who eat good food taste better."

            "Ok. That's creepy."

            He glanced at you over his shoulder, winking, and you realized he was teasing you. Though it was probably true, it made sense.

            You were trying to come up with a witty comment, when he turned around and placed a steaming bowl of cheesy noodles in front of you. You took a bite, and damn if it wasn't the best thing you'd ate in a while.

            "Did you put apple in here?" You had noticed the tart bits amid the soft noodles.

            "I surely did."

            "This is amazing!"

            "You're never gonna want to eat that boxed crap again."

            "Well I don't know about that."

            "Trust me." He smiled, crinkling his eyes at you.

            "You keep trying to get me to do that."

            "Is it workin?"

            "I think so." You suddenly felt shyer than you had before, which seemed paradoxical.

            You finished your bowl as Benny cleaned up. He was really making quite the impression. Your mind was just beginning to wander to the idea of whether you were brave or stupid enough to see if things could get more physical between the two of you, when a sharp rap on the door made you jump and Benny freeze.

            “Y/N? This is the police. We need to speak with you about an incident last night.”

            So much for sex. Fuck.

           


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who's at the door? Let's find out.

The door banged again. “Y/FN/LN! Open up. We just need to talk with you.”

Your wide eyes flew to Benny’s. He raised a finger to his full lips and motioned for you to get the door, disappearing out of sight before you even blinked.

You walked cautiously to the door, somewhat afraid it might be kicked open at any second. Peeping through the hole, you noticed two ordinary looking cops standing casually in the hallway, badges lazily held up to the peephole. Just as the taller one was getting ready to bang on the door again, you swung it open a crack.

“Can I help you, officers?” You asked politely.

“We believe you might.” The short, squat one replied. They looked like typical small town cops; one with a slightly bulging gut and a little scruff to make up for the thinning hair and the other a bit more fit, but sort of soft around the edges, like he might be getting as lazy as his partner. 

“Ok.” You left the chain on the door; not that you wanted to appear suspicious, but you were a bit.

“If we could come in m'am…” The thin one smiled at you.

“Miss,” the short one corrected his partner, “you’re not in trouble. We understand you might have had a rough time last night and we would just like to get some information from you.”

“And how would you know what kind of a time I had last night?” The hairs on the back of your neck were standing at attention again. You didn’t mean to sass them, but something was off. 

“Ms. Y/LN. Let us in so we can talk.” You remember that Benny indicated you should get the door before bolting, most likely still here somewhere; it didn’t seem like him to take off just because the cops showed up.

“Fine.” You shut the door and undid the chain, re-opening it to let them in. 

“Thank you.” The tall one leered at you.

“Could I have your names, officers?” You stepped back. You wanted to cross your ankles and lean back on the counter like you usually did, but you didn’t want to be at a disadvantage to them, so you put the kitchen peninsula between yourself and the officers. 

“This is Deputy Coulson, and I’m Sargent Stark” The short one handed you a card over the counter.

“You don’t have much space here.” Coulson observed while his partner craned his neck to look around your apartment.

“No, I don’t need much. Would you like to talk to me about last night?” You really just want them to hurry up and get to the point.

“This is pretty fancy cooking for one.” The fat one, Stark, poked the spoon at your meal.

“Sometimes I like to treat myself. Especially after a hard night.” Their indirect approach was starting to weird you out more and more. You regretted letting them in, regardless of what Benny thought. 

“Ok. So about last night…” The tall one smirked at you as he began.

“What about it?” You were becoming more and more oppositional as your fight or flight response heightened. 

“You said yourself it was hard.” That stupid smirk was still on his face, like a cat that had caught its prey and was just playing with the injured creature. 

“And your partner said you heard it was rough.” You weren’t going to let them bully you; after all, you had a super powered vampire waiting somewhere in the wings. 

“Why are you being so difficult?” Stark actually started to look a little irritated at the game now.

“You don’t seem to be very concerned with what actually happened to me.” This was certainly not how detectives should be interviewing an assault victim.

“You’re right. We don’t give two shits about you. What we do care about is our brother deputy. Did you know he was a cop?” Stark moved to the end of the peninsula, cutting into your precious barrier. 

Fucking hell. Of course, with your luck the guy was a goddamn cop. “Did you know he is a rapist?” You spat at them.

“What the guy does in his off time isn’t our business. When he comes into work the next day pale and freaked out, talking about vampires and shit, that is our business.” Stark stated.

“Fuck you. Get out.” They clearly weren’t here to take your statement. 

“Taking a pint of blood from someone is probably assault you know; coupled with the shiner and goose egg he’s sporting today, I’d say we have enough to arrest you.” Neither one of them moved but you realized that, barring the windows, you didn’t have an escape.

“You’re a fuckin’ weirdo, that’s for sure. A nice gentleman tries to make sure you get home safe and you attack him?"Coulson sneered as if he was incredulous you hadn’t just given yourself over to his friend just for being “nice.”

"Do you know what we found when we ran your information? So many claims for past due services. Seems you just up and left your last apartment, stopped paying rent, cable, utilities. Your ex-boyfriend said you broke up with him and then just disappeared. He seems like a nice guy too…What did you do?” Stark tried to feign disinterest but he clearly was trying to get to you.

You couldn’t let yourself get distracted by your destroyed credit score. You knew everything was in your name, but you assumed your boyfriend would pay it or change it over, you never thought he would actually just up and leave too. You fingered the deputies card in your hand, fidgeting with it while you thought. You looked down to actually read it: Deputy P. Coulson and Sargent T. Stark. Representatives of Watcom County Sheriff’s Department. Wait. You looked at the card again. Your county’s name was misspelled and you cursed yourself for not catching it sooner. 

“You’re fucking kidding me. Get out.” You sneered.

“Miss, what did you do to our colleague? Don’t make us arrest you.”

“You can’t arrest me, Tony Stark. You’re not a cop. You’re not even Iron Man.”

“Heh. Ok, so we’re not cops. We’re scarier than cops. You let a vampire at our friend. We want the vamp, and you’re going to tell us where to find him.” The fat man reached towards you.

A blur of motion passed in front of you and T. Stark was down, Benny snarling on top of him. 

“Get him!” Stark shouted from under Benny.

Coulson (or whoever he really was) pulled his gun to shoot at the same time you leapt over the counter and crashed into him, his shot splintering into your ancient refrigerator. Benny was wresting with the fat man while you struggled to keep the thin one from aiming at him. It was a losing battle. You simply did not have enough strength to overpower the larger man, and you couldn’t take an arm off him for fear he would be able to wretch free and fire on Benny. Finally giving up and taking a page from the vampire book, you leaned into him and bit his nose as hard as you could, causing blood to gush into your mouth. 

“Fucking bitch!” He yelled as you gagged on the metallic fluid. At least it distracted him. He stopped trying to shoot Benny and heaved himself on you, smashing you both into the low cupboards. You grabbed for anything on the counter and reached the pot of dinner sitting there, bringing it down as hard as you could on his head and spilling the macaroni everywhere. 

“This is a right mess.” Benny stood over you and the dazed man; Benny wasn’t even breathing hard, well not even breathing at all really. “Let me take care of him, Cher.” Taking the pot from your hand he brought it down again on Coulson’s head, knocking him out cold. Behind Benny, you could see the fat man dozing peacefully, bruises developing around his neck.

 

***

 

After cleaning the mess in the kitchen, you huddled on the couch, knees hugged into your chest while Benny tied the men up using their belts and whatever else he could find . 

When he was done, he came and sat down beside you, gazed at you softly beneath his furry brows and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into his chest where you let yourself be buried. “I’m not sorry I helped ya last night. In fact, I’m glad I did.” He commented.

“Why? I just made trouble for you.” You nodded to the two men.

“Nah. Them? They woulda been trouble any how. They’re hunters, not very nice and not very good as far as I can tell.”

“Hunters?”

“They come after folk like me and others. ‘Specially when we start trouble somewhere. These guys though, they don’ seem right. Pray'n on innocent girls just because they’re bored.” Benny rested his chin on your head, which seemed to be becoming a habit. “Cher, I gotta call an ol’ friend of mine. I don’ like to bother 'em but because of what these guys tried with you, I’m obligated to let em know what’s happen'n.”

Benny stood to fish his phone from his pocket and grabbed the blanket off the couch behind you, wrapping it tightly around you before sitting back down, his thick arm twined around your shoulders, pulling you into his side as he dialed.

You hadn’t even realized you’d been shaking so bad until he held you, his calming effect on you quickly easing the shivers plaguing your body.   
Whoever Benny called answered, but didn’t seem happy about it. “Hey Chief, I’m sorry ‘bout this. You know I try to leave you be but I gotta problem you probably wanna know about.”

You heard someone talking on the other end but couldn’t make out what they were saying through the rough voice.

“Rogue hunters, brother. One of them tried to hurt a human girl last night. We stopped him but his buddies found her today.”

You were able to make out out a couple words like “who”, “what”, and, “don’t”.  
“Jus’ me and her, din’t get no one else involved. You know I don’t do that no more.”

More garbled words you couldn’t make out. Damn his volume was on low, he must really have supersonic hearing. 

“She’s ok. I got her.” Benny arm tightened around you protectively. “I got them too. Tied up and alive, for whatever their worth.” He tensed as the person on the other end spoke. “You know I won’t hurt ‘em anymore than they make me. I don’ know where their friend is, though; the one from last night.”

Benny gave your address and hung up. 

“Luckily, my friend and his brother are only a few hours away. They’ll be here by morning.” 

“What do we do with them?” You gestured to the two tied up.

“What, Cher, you don’t like looking at their ugly mugs?” Benny grinned, full of mischief.

“Not really, this is a pretty small space. Where are we going to keep them quiet and out of the way until your friend gets here?”

“Hmmm.” Benny’s deep rumble vibrated through you as he thought. “So, you got a bathroom? Or a closet?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want them in my bathroom!” Grossed out at the thought of the two of them sitting in your bathtub, bags on their heads, while you relieved yourself.

Benny chuckled. “Oh, Cher, I won subject ya to that.” He got up and stepped into the small alcove leading to your bathroom, popping open the small closet there. “We can pop these shelves out and snuggle them in here. Outta sight outta mind.”

Before you could object, Benny emptied the closet of its contents and removed the shelves heaving the two men into the closet before shutting the door. “Snug as bugs, Cher.”

You could tell he was trying to be light hearted to take your mind from everything that had happened, and it was working. You shot him a warm smile and snuggled further into the blanket wrapped around you, yawning softly.

“When was the last time you slept?” Benny reclaimed his spot next to you on the couch. 

“Hmmm, a little between now and last night, I had a lot to think about, though; sort of kept me up.” You were pretty sleepy. Your body felt bone tired and drained after all the adrenaline of the last couple days dissipated from your system. There was something comforting and easy about Benny’s presence that made you feel safe enough to relax. 

“You need to get some rest, Cher. I’ll keep my ears pricked in case those two get restless.” Benny reclined into the side of the couch pulling you with him so that you were resting on his chest with his arms wrapped around you.

“We can fold it down.” You offered, though you didn’t really want to get up and do that.

“Nah. I’m fine like this if you are.” Benny’s chin was resting on your head again as his fingers brushed patterns on your back through the blanket. You reviewed the last several hours, trying to find solutions to your new problems. Eventually, you lost control of your thoughts and they became dream-like. 

As you slowly drifted off to sleep, you thought you felt Benny press his lips to the top of your hair.


	4. Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Benny's friends show up to help you out... but things don't go quite as planned.

Sometime in the night you were dimly aware of the body under you shifting as you were gently rolled to the side  You slowly worked your way back to reality; nuzzling into the warm chest that had been your pillow for as long as your sleepy mind could remember. Even though something was asking you to wake up, you tried to pull yourself back down into dreamland. Grasping the soft fabric sides of your pillow, you murmured a muffled refusal before your pillow sat up and chuckled.

 

“As sweet as this is, Darlin’, you gotta get up.” A deep soft drawl brought you fully conscious. 

 

You were still clinging to Benny's chest as the two of you sat reclined on the couch. You began to realize that, knowing how tired you had been, and your tendency to pass out hard after over exerting yourself, you’d probably drooled on his chest at least a little over the course of your deep slumber.

 

“Oh my go-I am so sorry.” Your hand flew to your chin, checking for leakage. “How long was I out?”

 

Benny’s warm smile greeted your cautious gaze. “Not for long, Cher.” He lifted a hand from your back and gently pressed a finger to your cheek. “I’d say at least 1-2-3 buttons worth.” He counted, moving his rough fingertip gently over your skin to each indentation along your cheek. 

 

“Oh, jeez!” Your hand flew to your face covering the sleep induced button marks. 

 

“Don’t bother, it’s absolutely adorable.” Benny’s large hand covered yours and pulled it gently away from your face. “My friend and his brother will be here shortly, and I figured you’d want to be awake when they got here.” 

 

“Yeah. I should probably shower and change, I’m not sure I remember the last time I did either since this all started.”

 

“I wasn’t gonna say anything… but ya know, vampire nose.” Benny placed a finger to his nose, smirking. “You smell, Cher.”

 

“You’re a jerk!” You squeaked in mock offense. “I should have drooled more on you!” And you playfully shoved his broad chest.

 

“I didn’t say it was a bad smell!” Benny wrapped his burly arm around you, drawing you firmly into him,  dropping his face to yours and gently pressing his lips to yours. 

 

It was surprising and not at all unexpected at the same time. You’d slept on the guy’s chest for goodness’ sake! And yet, it was so gentle and earnest. A long time had gone by since you’d had a first kiss that hadn’t involved shots or beer, or one that you hadn’t known was coming. It was sweet and chaste; he didn’t elongate it or try to pry your mouth open. 

 

You were still lost in the heartfelt kiss when Benny pulled away and stood with you still in his arms, placing you lightly on your feet and pulling away, his steel blue eyes crinkling at the edges as he took in your flushed cheeks. 

 

“You better go now, Darlin’, before this goes any further.” He winked, pressed a second kiss to your forehead, and urged you towards the bathroom. 

 

A small smile grew on your face as you headed to the bathroom. It fell as you passed the closet and heard groaning coming from within. 

 

“Uh, Benny? I think these guys are awake, too.”

 

“No worries, Cher. They’ll soon be dealt with.”

 

Once in the bathroom you glanced at yourself in the mirror, by all accounts ready to see a puffy, tired, not at all adorable face staring back at you. You were pleasantly surprised to find that your bedhead (Bennyhead?) was actually a combination of cute and sexy, and your eyes stood out brightly in contrast to your face. Who knew adventures with vampires could be good for your complexion? 

 

You started the water in the shower and gathered your towel and other necessities as it warmed up. Stepping into the hot water, you closed your eyes as it washed over your body. For a little while you let yourself forget about the men locked in your closet and that Benny’s ‘hunter’ friends were on their way to your house, losing yourself in enjoying the water and ignoring the rest of the world. All too soon there was a knock at the door and you could hear Benny from the other side letting you know that his friends had just pulled into town. 

 

Stepping out of the shower you dried your body then rustled the towel through your hair, drying it as best you could. You went through your routine of applying lotion and deodorant, finally realizing that you’d left all your clothes out in the crates in the living room. Well, you were going to have to get them and you could probably have a little fun in the process. Wrapping the towel around you, youtucked the end between your breasts and tousled your hair, stepping out of the bathroom and  innocently looking up to see Benny frozen in his spot, staring at you like his entire brain just stopped firing. His eyes slowly drifted up your body until they met your smirking face. 

 

“Nice view?”

 

“I’d say so darlin’” He let a low whistle through his teeth. “You best get some clothes on quick, or I’m gonna have to call Dean and tell them to wait a few.”

 

“So, that’s his name!” You walked towards the crates filled with folded laundry and crouched down in just a way that the towel just barely covered the bottom of your cheeks. “I think I’ve figured out the secret to getting information out of you.” you winked as you bounced back into the bathroom, a self-satisfied look on your face.

 

You’d selected easy fitting boyfriend cut jeans and a tight fitting navy scoop neck t-shirt, wrapping your hair into a messy bun at the top of your head after tieing up your low top converse. Who knew what you’d be getting into with all these strange new people; best to be comfortable and prepared. 

 

The closet door outside crashed into the bathroom door, causing you to jump and reach forthe closest thing to you, which happened to be a plunger. In a moment of bravery you pushed the bathroom door open, only to have it catch on the closet door knob, blocking you in. 

 

“Hey!”  _ Why would you yell such a stupid thing? _ You tried to push the door open again, futilely. You could hear grunting and scuffing on the other side and you prayed that the men hadn’t escaped the closet while you were busy forgetting about them. 

 

After a moment of grunting, the door of the closet swung back shut and the bathroom door swung the rest of the way open.

 

Benny burst into a full laugh when he caught sight of you standing at the ready, plunger held out like a sword. “Cher, I don’t think you told me about your status as a Knight of the Round Toilet!” 

 

“Very funny.” You tried your best to scowl at him. “I thought I heard them escape.”

 

“So the plunger was your best bet?” A deep voice from behind Benny scoffed amusedly. The tall, well-built man with light brown hair stood wide-legged with a commanding presence in your living space. “I’m Dean.”

 

“Hey.” You set the plunger back down and closed the bathroom door behind you, slightly embarrassed.

 

“It’s not a half-bad plan. I would have dipped it in the toilet for an extra gross effect, though.” The third voice came from Dean’s left and you stepped out of the small alcove to see the largest human you’d ever met in person. “I’m Sam.” He offered you his hand. 

 

“Hey, I’m Y/N. Sorry about the entrance.” You shook his hand and watched as yours disappeared in his grip. 

 

“Sorry, we got these assholes out of your closet and knocked ‘em back out. That’s probably what you heard.” 

 

You looked back to Dean and saw the men passed out, slumped into your futon. You crinkled your nose involuntarily at the sight of them sitting where you sleep and stepped closer to Benny.

 

“Sorry Cher, but there’s not much space.” Benny set a reassuring hand on your shoulder. 

 

“We’re gonna want to move them soon. Before everyone in your apartment building wakes up and sees us carrying them out or they start making too much noise.” Dean was looking around your apartment, and you followed his gaze noticing just how full of men your apartment was; and not regularly sized men either, you were easily the smallest person in the apartment; even the tall, thin, dickhead on your couch probably outweighed you. You told yourself not to be intimidated by it. 

 

“Well first, why don’t you tell us what’s happened so far. Like how you guys know they are hunters and not actually cops; because if they’re cops we’re gonna have a hell of a lot more problems, here.” Sam addressed you; he was friendly toward you but watched Benny warily.

 

You walked over and grabbed the business card off the counter and handed it to Sam. “I highly doubt the likelihood that those are really their names, and also Whatcom County is spelled wrong.”

 

Sam took a look at the business card and a small smirk came over his face before he frowned and handed the card to Dean.

 

Dean took a look at the card and a look of anger flashed before he look up at Sam. “Dude! They totally stole our thing. What the hell?”

 

“Your thing?” You looked at him questioningly.

 

“The fake name thing, that’s totally my move. Now I’m pissed.”

 

“You weren’t mad before? Like when your friend told you they tried to kill him?” For some reason Dean’s flippant attitude was rubbing you the wrong way.

 

Dean looked taken aback that you would snap at him like that. “Don’t tell me how I should feel.You have no idea.”

 

“It’s all right, Cher. Let’s just tell them from the beginning what happened, you’ll warm up to ol’ Dean in no time, hopefully not too much.” Benny smiled down at you.

 

You and Benny took turns explaining what had happened to you since you left the bar two nights ago. Benny told them about intimidating him in the basement and taking some of his blood. “It’s been hard to come by lately.” he  shrugged. 

 

“You told her about yourself?” Dean asked a little judgmentally.

 

“Nah Chief, she’s tenacious.” Benny proudly replied, “She snuck back in and spied on me. I actually didn’t even know she was there for a bit. She had quite a few questions after that.”

 

Benny then explained that you’d met back at your apartment and learned about being a vampire, shortly followed by the arrival of your ‘friends’ on the futon. Benny showed them the splinters from the wooded bullet and the dent in your fridge.

 

“So, they are definitely hunters, or people who want to be hunters.” Sam concluded.

 

“Let’s move them back to your bar then, Benny. Then we can get ‘em talking. Figure out who they are.” Dean gestured to the two on the couch. 

 

“What are you going to do with them afterward?” You didn’t really care who these guys were. What you wanted was justice for yourself and whoever else they hurt, and then assurance that they’d never do it again.

 

“We’ll wait until they wake up, hear their side of the story, and then we’ll figure it out.”

 

“So you might end up just letting them go?” You were incredulous that somehow they might be allowed back on the streets again.

 

“I didn’t say that. Calm down. They’ll get what’s coming to them, if they deserve it.” Dean clearly wanted you to just let him deal with it, but that wasn’t exactly your style. 

 

“If? Are you kidding me? Did you not hear that whole story?” You struggled to give over control to anyone, let alone someone you barely knew. That was part of the reason why you followed Benny, you didn’t do well not knowing what was going to happen or being left in the dark.

 

“Look, I know you had a hard time with them, and their friend sounds like a real piece of work. But as far as I can tell here, they were doing their job. A vampire was interested in a human girl. That’s typically the kind of situation people like us, hunters, tend to deal with.”

 

You continued to glare at him.

 

Dean sighed and tried to explain further. “You are lucky the vampire you met happens to be one if the only redeemable ones out there. Most others would have you thanking those guys for rescuing you, or maybe they would have been cleaning your guts up if they were a few seconds too late to save your sorry ass.”

 

“They were fucking assholes! They cared more about getting revenge for their friend than they did about saving me. They didn’t even care if Benny was here or not! They shouldn’t just get off for being ‘hunters’ or whatever the fuck you call yourselves.” You were yelling at him now, furious that he seemed to think those sleeze bags had any right to defend themselves.

 

“You need to calm down. We’ll handle it. In fact you should probably stay here if you can’t control your mouth.” Dean was thoroughly pissed off, the two of you facing off with Sam and Benny inching closer, ready to separate you if need be.

 

You had always had a temper and you never liked being told what to do but part of you knew you were being more of a bitch than the situation warranted; especially when you looked over and saw Benny looking torn and chagrined. Your chest heavied and you started to feel sorry for your behavior. 

 

“Fine. I’ll shut up, but I’m coming with you.” You crossed your arms and stood stubbornly.

 

“No offense, sweetheart, but you don’t really have a clue what we’re dealing with here. Just stay here and we’ll take care of it.” Dean said dismissively.

 

“Don’t call me ‘Sweetheart’.” It was ok, even cute when Benny called you Cher or Darlin’ but typically you hated pet names, especially when they were meant to be demeaning.

 

“Whatever you say Princess, but believe me, you’re safer if you stay out of it as much as possible.” He smiled smugly at you, assured that he was winning the argument.

 

You didn’t want to put Benny in an awkward situation but you weren’t going to let Dean have the last word either. “Oh. So I don’t get to know what goes on in your secret world? Fine. I’ll just go back to my normal life and take the damn trash out.” you scoffed, stomping as you tiraded over to the garbage can and collected the bag, “Let me know when you decide what to do with the men who attacked ME in MY apartment!” You let the door slam behind you as you stormed down the hallway. You knew you were being dramatic, but nothing pissed you off like other people making decisions that affected you without consulting you. Getting out to dump the trash also turned out to be an excellent excuse to take a break from the freaking testosterone fest overtaking your apartment right now. 

 

“Comes into my home… Tells me I won’t understand…. Like I’m not capable of handling it…. And then tells me I don’t get a say… Fuck him.” You slammed the bag into the dumpster and let the lid fall hard. The harder you banged things around the angrier you got; the more righteous in your anger as it swelled up inside of you. Part of you knew that some of the anger was misplaced, and was more to do with the topsy-turvy turn your life had taken in the last couple days. You weren’t even necessarily mad about Benny coming into your life, or discovering that there were vampires and other supernatural things, you just felt woefully unprepared and a little dumb that you’d never caught on before. You wondered how many people you knew had actually known about all the other things that existed, or even were one of the many supernatural beings. 

 

You stood on the pavement outside the entry to your apartment building, lost in memories you were examining for traces of things that could have been magical when you were suddenly slammed into the brick wall nearby, the air rushing punching out of your lungs in a rush.

 

Your body tried to crumble to the ground as your lungs made a weak attempt to suck air back into their deflated cavities, but something held you up right. As you gained more awareness, you realized that part of the reason your lungs were struggling to fill and you couldn’t sink to the ground was because something was holding you up by your neck. Wait, someone. Your vision started to clear a bit and you found yourself staring into the snake-eyes of your attacker from two nights ago.

 

“Hey, look who I found! You wouldn’t happen to know where my two friends are would you?” A thin-lipped smirk spread across his face. 

 

“I wouldn’t assume someone like you would even have friends.” You really couldn’t help your mouth, you were already in a foul mood. 

 

He slammed you back into the brick wall, sending stars into your vision. It was far too early for anyone else in your building to be getting up but you wished at least one of your neighbors was a gym rat, rather the reclusive down and out shut-ins that seemed to live there. 

 

“Hey, bitch, I asked you a question. Where the fuck are my friends?”

 

“Definitely not in my apartment.” You stated sarcastically. Let this guy go blazing in there with Benny and the Winchesters; he’d be a dead man. 

 

“You think you’re smart, huh? You really don’t know a thing, do you? Their car is here, they were supposed to meet me hours ago, packing you along with that stupid vamp’s head, so when they didn’t show, I came to investigate, and you know who’s car I park next to? Dean Fucking Winchester’s. Everyone know’s when you find that Impala the Winchester’s aren’t far behind.”

 

You kept your mouth shut this time.

 

He went on, “I don’t know how you’re connected to the Winchesters but I know most of the people around them end up dead, and I really don’t want to be a casualty on that list. Now, are my friends alive?” He shifted to press a forearm across your collarbone and neck, pulling a gun from the back of his pants with the other. 

 

You nodded. No use pushing him any farther.

 

“Good. What are they planning to do with them?”

 

“I don’t know.” You were rewarded for your honesty by being slammed back into the wall again and the gun flashed in front of your face. “I’m fucking serious, I don’t know. I was taking out the trash while they were still talking.”

  
  


“Ok, you’re going to walk with me to my car, and this time you’re gonna get in and go for a ride with me. You yell, you look at me weird, or try to run and I’ll shoot you. Let’s go.” He pulled you roughly from the wall and pressed the tip of the gun into your back. You walked to his car, following the way he directed you with the steel barrel between your shoulder blades. Once you reached the passenger’s side of his car you he had you stop while he opened it and began searching for something in the glove department.

 

You wondered if this was your chance; you could run, duck beneath a car, or dart between cars and hope he missed you when he shot. 

 

“You’re probably thinking of running right now. That would be a very bad plan. I’m an excellent shot.”

 

You had missed your chance to catch him off guard. Part of you was panicking, but the majority of your dizzy mind was mysteriously calm. You could do this; you could think your way out of this. If you panicked, you wouldn’t be able to think clearly and your chances of getting away would decrease. Your new hyper-rational inner monologue took over. Breathe, think, breath, think. 

 

He found what he was looking for in the glove compartment, zip ties. Your wrists were then crossed and bound behind your back, the tough plastic biting into your flesh. 

 

“Get in.” He pointed to the passenger seat. You got in awkwardly off balance with your hands tied behind you.

 

“Seatbelt?” you asked innocently, looking up at him and testing his boundaries.

 

“Not a chance. You’ll behave or I’ll hit the breaks and have you shot through the windshield.” Ok. Boundaries established. 

 

As he settled into the driver’s side he reached back and pulled an old sweatshirt from the backseat,grinning wickedly before he pulled open the hood and placed it over your face. 

 

“Can’t have you see where I’m headed. Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. Most girls would just love to wear a guy’s sweatshirt anyway.” He chuckled to himself. 

 

His car and the dirty sweatshirt over your head stunk to high heaven, the scent heavy and sour. You hated the smell of the hunter, hated that it was covering your face and gagged as it felt like it was crawling down your throat. You tried to keep yourself upright as he took turns, eventually settling for leaning against the door just to avoid bumping into him, all the while running through possible ways to escape. 

 

Time seemed to lose it’s meaning abd after a while and you couldn’t tell how long you’d been in the car. Every now and then he would mumble something to himself but there was nothing you could really make out. Finally the car came to a stop on a gravel surface.

 

“We’ve arrived! Now let's go inside and make a phone call. I’m sure there’s a certain vampire that will be really anxious to know where his little snack disappeared to. We better let him know we made it here safe.” 

 

_He’s deranged,_ you thought, _not stupid, but loopy. He’s low on blood. Who knows when he slept last._ _ He has to make a mistake at some point. _ You heard him get out of the car and walk around to the passenger side before opening it and pulling you out. 

 

“Alright, little lady, let’s go. I think this will be a rather romantic getaway for you.” He held the sweatshirt closed around your head, making you gag on the stench. Guiding you along the car you heard him open a tinny sounding door, he pulled up on your elbow making you take a step up and inside, before joining you and pulling the sweatshirt off your face finally.

 

You were looking around the vaguely familiar surroundings when you heard a voice you hoped to never hear again. “Hello Y/N, it's been too long.”

  
You spun around to see your ex-boyfriend sitting at the flimsy dining set in his grandpa’s old RV.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello Darlings. I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long... Let’s get to some action eh? We’re gonna have a couple of action packed chapters and then a more steamy chapter. I owe y’all after such a hiatus, huh? If you’re new here: Welcome!

Electricity-like feeling snapped through your body as you stared disbelieving at your least favorite human. It felt like each cell in your body started to hum with pent up rage. You knew what people meant know when they said something made their blood boil.

“It's a good thing looks can’t kill.” Chuckled Snake-Eyes next to you.

“Ah. She doesn’t mean it. She’s always been that way, playing tougher than she really is.” Your ex said with a sadistic smile. 

“Fuck you.” You kept your voice calm and flat. The more angry you got the less likely you’d be able to think clearly enough to get out. 

“Maybe we’ll get there a little later love.” He winked at you in a way that was supposed to be seductive, but made your stomach threaten to empty its contents on the worn out carpet, “Come have a seat.” He gestured to the settee across the flimsy fold up table. “Let’s chat.”

Snake-Eyes grabbed you roughly by the arm, digging in his fingers hard enough to leave bruises, and pulling hard enough the zip ties binding your wrists cut into your skin. He half pulled, half shoved you to the seat. 

You glowered up at your kidnapper, “So what you’re like his lackey?” You challenged snake-eyes. 

“Not at all. Y/Ex’s/N is a new friend. We just hit it off real well, common experiences... you know.” He grinned at your ex. 

Your ex relaxed into his seat and assumed a casual, nonchalant posture, which made you want to shove his nose into his sinus cavity. “We both try to do the right thing by you, be a nice guy, and get jilted in the end. Hell, I guess I should count myself lucky you didn’t sick a monster on me when we broke up.” He giggled at his own joke, “Seems like you’ve made some rather unsavory friends in my absence.” 

“I think you win that one actually.” Your lips curled in a sneer. 

“Nah, my friends are cool. I think I might take up with them. Seems like an exciting life, full of adventure and excuses to beat the hell out of things. I live here now so I can go just about anywhere. It’s rent free too. Who’s name was on our lease again? Oh that’s right, yours.” He laughed. He was lounging self assured; his arms stretched open along the back of the settee. His face set in that smug look you had grown to hate in your time together. 

You wanted to tear his face off. You hoped you got the chance soon. You needed some time to plan though so you decided to keep him talking. He always loved the sound of his own voice. 

“But seriously Y/N, a fucking vampire? What are you thinking?” His voice took on the lilt he always used when he was trying to impress upon you how stupid you were being, how his opinion was the only one that made sense; the only one that mattered.

“I don’t know. I guess he seemed like a step up from the last loser I dated. At least he has a job” You shrugged. Benny was night and day from your ex, way more than a step up, but you just wanted to hurt the slimeball sitting across from you. 

Pettiness overtook you, “He’s huge. I can’t get enough of it.” You beamed at him. You had no idea if that was true, but fuck it, your ex had always brought out the worst in you, which was one of the many reasons you left. 

“You and your fucking mouth.” He waved a roll of duct tape at you. “Keep it under control, or I’ll be doing all the talking. But seriously, why him? You accused me of being selfish and using you as a meal ticket, so you go out and find a guy who literally wants to use you as a meal!” 

You were surprised he was even listening to you back when you broke up with him and left. He never paid your feelings or needs much mind. That was part of the reason you’d developed such a crush on Benny as your bartender. The way he would give you his full attention; sky blue eyes meeting yours in a way that let you know he wasn’t only listening and understanding you but feeling what you had to say, immersing himself in your stories or anecdotes. Before, you thought Benny was simply a very good bartender, knowing how to make customers feel like they had his full attention, it was only in the past few days that you realized that he didn’t necessarily treat the other patrons the same; not that he was rude to them, he just continually would come back to your corner to chat with you, arm and shoulder muscles flexing as he cleaned the same part on the counter over and over again even though it was spotless.. You’d been mustering up the courage to ask his name, you thought maybe you were ready to try again with someone new, when the-fucking-walking-dickhead standing over you had tried to attack you. You supposed you should thank him for moving things along a little faster. 

“HELLLLLLLOOOOOOO? Are you even listening to me? Jesus, I think he might have made you dumber than you were before.” Your ex’s voice grated through your ears and brought you back to present. 

You’d once read somewhere that spacing out was actually a sign of intelligence. “Sorry, I’ve really honed my skills for tuning out dipshits.” You plastered a serene look on your face. 

Snake-Eyes huffed in impatience.

“I’ve had enough to of this, You guys can finish catching up in a minute. First, we gotta figure out how to get my friends back and why the fuck the Winchester’s are helping a damned vamp. So Chick, what’s the story with them and a bloodsucker?” 

“I don’t know.” You shrugged. This hadn’t been a kindly received answer before but what the hell, it was the truth so what was the harm? 

Sure enough, you were rewarded for your honesty with a wave of the gun in your face, so close the butt of it brushed the tip of your nose.

“We’ve been over this before. ‘I don’t know’ don’t cut it.” Snake-Eyes spat in your face.

You realized that you weren’t sure you wanted this creep to know that Benny was close enough to Dean to have his number saved in his phone.

“I don’t know man. She’s never been the brightest. She might not know.” For once your asshole ex at least looked a little nervous, maybe more because he didn’t want to clean your brains out of his free RV, but at least it was something. You could make use of the opportunity of them underestimating your intelligence at least. 

“I’m serious. Your friends showed up, tried to rough me up. So we fought ‘em and locked them up. Then Benny called the those dudes to help. Benny told me they were something called hunters and that was it.” It was so easy to increase the cadence of your voice, you were scared after all. The information you were giving them wasn’t enough to really do anything with regardless.

“Let’s see if we can put our minds together on this one then” Snake-eyes took a phone from his jacket pocket while pulling a chair up at the end of the dinette, blocking you in. He set the phone down on the table.

The three of you sat in tense silence as the phone rang 4 times before someone picked up. “Hello.” The voice coming from the speaker was low and dangerous, but without the southern drawl you hoped to hear. 

“Hello, this doesn’t sound like Tony to me. Must be one of the Winchester’s then?”

“Cut the crap. You have Y/N; we’re gonna get her back.” You could hear the cockiness in Dean’s voice. He was just so fucking sure it was going to work his way.

“Hmmm. Seems to me you have some things I would like too. My friends for one, and that vampire.”

“One girl for three? You’re kidding right? I don’t even know her. I’ll just kill your friends and rid the world of two assholes. Problem solved.” Dean’s smug voice dripped from the speaker.

“That’s not the Dean Winchester of legend. I doubt you’ll be able to let an innocent suffer” Snake-eyes lunged at you, suddenly backhanding your face. Stars swam before your eyes and metallic fluid filled your mouth oozing from a newly split lip. An involuntary groan escaped your lips. 

“You touch her again, and you’ll be hanging by your toes in a basement, draining blood into a bucket.” There was your southern drawl. Benny’s voice helped bring you back to present. They must have been on speaker as well. 

“There’s who I really want to talk to. You’re a little possessive of your living, breathing snack machine aren’t you?” Your captor’s vision narrowed, “Let’s get down to business. I don’t know what game you’re playing with this chick, but it ends here.The way I see it, I just rescued her from certain death.”

“Benny, we’re in a 1980s RV, its usually park-” Another blow to your face cut off the usual location of the RV. Snake-eyes pointed to the tape in your ex’s hand.Your ex-asshole handed it to him. He snapped off a length and pressed it hard against your split lips, stinging them, and pushing more blood into your mouth. 

Through the fear that you were going to choke on your own blood or have to swallow it, you realized that you ex wasn’t saying anything, an out of character move for him, which meant it was purposeful; they didn’t want Benny and the Winchesters knowing that there was another person with him.

“You’re talk’n an awful lot for someone who doesn’t have much to bargain with.”

“You know that’s a lie, you wouldn’t be talking to me now if you didn’t care about getting this girl back. See, there’s the double standard I’m struggling to understand. You all are still on the phone with me, tryin’ to negotiate her return. Meanwhile, you have two hunters working with you, a fucking monster. Looks like the Winchester’s aren’t all their reputation is.”

“Reputation ain’t everything.” Dean quipped.

This inane conversation continued for sometime. After a while, it dawned on you that Sam hadn’t spoken yet. So, he either he wasn’t with them or he was working on something. It seemed unlikely that Benny or Sam and Dean would be willing to sit by and chat on the phone; in the short time you knew them, they definitely all seemed like men of action. 

They were buying time! 

Which meant they were fairly sure they could find you soon. What worried you was that they weren’t aware that snake-eyes had found another person to help him, you didn’t want them to have underestimated the situation once they arrived. 

With your hands tied behind you, you tried to surreptitiously take-in the interior of the RV. It was the same crappy worn down, musty place it had always been. You remembered coming here with your ex when things were fresh and new and you still loved him. The first time you came here, the two of you had gotten carried away while making dinner and had broken the table in your sexcapades. The memory made you cringe inwardly and swallow, accidently downing some of the blood in your mouth. Back in your memory, you and your ex had laughed as you cleaned up and set the tabletop back up on the wiggly center leg hoping his grandfather wouldn’t notice. Grandpa Bart never said anything; You got an idea.

Gently, you leaned a little forward, shrugging your shoulders and wiggling your spine as though you were getting the kinks out, and nudged the table. It moved towards your ex. He glared at you and pushed it back where it belonged. It was still broken. 

The RV had been made back in the late 70’s or early 80’s; back when they made them as big as they could, so the bench seat you sat on was large enough to fit a huge corn fed farmer, which gave you the space you needed to pull your knees up on it. Resting your forehead on your knees you hoped that it looked like you were curling up into a ball out of fear or hopelessness. Blocking your vision also gave you a break from having to stare at your ex or the other creep, and allowed you to concentrate on what you could hear. 

You could hear snake-eyes continuing his insipid running verbal joust with Benny, who was becoming more minimal in his responses. The slow in and out wheeze across from you informed you that your ex had likely not taken his allergy medicine or inhaler today. Probably too excited about all this action. Fucking idiot. Tiny creeks and groans came from the RV as its occupants shifted in their seats. Snake-eyes was becoming more and more upset with his lack of response from Dean and Benny and started to yell. Toning him out you continued to concentrate on the other things happening outside the RV. The wind whipped through the trees around you and buffeted the camper, small whistles came from where the wind blew over old cracks and crevices. You heard a crunch of gravel from outside, and a different sort of slow creaky groan. Like an old car door someone was trying to gently close. They’re here.


End file.
